Lakhdar Brahimi, top UN mediator in Syria conflict, resigns

Somini Sengupta

United Nations: Lakhdar Brahimi, the veteran U.N. mediator tapped to help broker a political settlement in Syria, resigned on Tuesday, signalling the bleak prospects for peace in a conflict that has gone on for more than three years and claimed more than 150,000 lives.

"I have decided to accept the request of Lakhdar Brahimi to relinquish his duties," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters at a news briefing at the United Nations, with Mr Brahimi beside him.

Mr Ban said the resignation was effective at the end of May.

"Mr Brahimi has long been recognised as one of the world's most brilliant diplomats," Mr Ban said, describing the resignation as a collective failure.

Mr Brahimi thanked Mr Ban and told reporters the resignation "was not a very pleasant situation for me."

His resignation came amid rising frustration with President Bashar Assad of Syria, who ignored Mr Brahimi's proposed agenda for talks and then scheduled a presidential election that will probably install him for another seven-year term. Top UN. officials had expressed dismay at the move, saying the election would probably sabotage any further diplomacy.

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Mr Brahimi told the Security Council in mid-March that he saw no reason for staying on if Dr Assad went ahead with a vote. Dr Assad responded by setting a date in early June.

Mr Brahimi led the government and opposition representatives in two rounds of talks in Switzerland. The last ended without agreement even on an agenda for talks. Elections would defy one of the central premises for the negotiations: to discuss how to form an interim transitional government.

There is no word on who might succeed Mr Brahimi, nor how a successor might proceed.

Several diplomats have said a breakthrough on Syria will come only if Iran, the Assad government's most important backer in the Middle East, can be persuaded to cooperate on a political settlement.

Mr Ban was unusually forthright in his remarks Tuesday, singling out what he described as the Syrian government's intransigence in political negotiations. He also chided members of the Security Council for their inability to coax allies on the ground in the conflict, saying that was a major reason for Mr Brahimi's departure.

"That his efforts have not received support from the United Nations body that is charged with upholding peace and security and from countries with influence over Syrian situation is a failure of all of us," Mr Ban said.

Mr Brahimi, 80, a veteran Algerian statesman who helped negotiate an end to Lebanon's civil war nearly a quarter-century ago, spoke ever so briefly and softly when it was his turn, shoulders slouched, lips downturned.

"It's very sad that I leave this position and leave Syria behind in such a bad state," he said.

Mr Ban said nothing about Mr Brahimi's successor, underscoring the difficulties of choosing the next mediator. "Let me take some time to think who should be the right person," he told reporters.

He chided all antagonists in the conflict and their supporters abroad for wasting Mr Brahimi's time.

"I regret the parties, especially the government, have proven so reluctant to take advantage of that opportunity to end the country's profound misery," Mr Ban said.

Mr Ban also used the occasion to reiterate his demands for accountability for crimes against humanity in the Syria conflict, pointing to the blocking of humanitarian assistance, which he called "deliberate starvation." This too was a reference to the government's culpability, with the United Nations having described in detail how government forces are far more responsible than rebel forces for blocking aid to besieged communities.